The BEST!

I painted this! And it is the BEST!

I spent hours joyfully painting. Happy to have the time to paint and to think, while my husband took our four year old to the park. I love the memories it evokes of Long Beach, and watching Scotty on his first carousel ride with his Gommy, she smiled and waved right beside him as he bobbed up and down on the magical ride.

What if I compared my beautiful painting with a carousel horse created by a master water color artist. She's spent a lifetime studying and practicing the art. Her ability to work the paints with such oneness result in a masterpiece appearing more like a window glimpsing onto a real carousel ride than a painting. 

Is my painting still the best?

Place my painting next to a rendition by a six year old. Her excited fingers clutch the crayons. She gleefully alternates between bright pink and purple. "Here are the ears!" She proudly explains to her mother "And the nose and the eyes, and here's me, I'm waving to you!" The picture is hung prominently on the center of the refrigerator.

Is my painting still the best?

Yes, my painting is still the best. "The" best, is my best. Each is the best work of the artist. Comparing them makes no sense, they are all a unique effort, and they are all the same effort. Each putting forth all the skill they have. 

Just as the master's work can not take away from the child's talent, or the child's work enhance the talent of the novice, nothing can take away or add too, the beauty of your your home. What you create contains all the beauty of your best work. Tell me, what could possibly detract from that? Pintrest, a magazine, how about HGTV?  What about this very blog?

None of it can take away that beauty or the joy you receive from creating, except you.

Why do we create? Why do we paint, and sew curtains, and organize a drawer? We do it all for joy! But you are robbed of that joy when you compare your ability to others. So create! Seek out inspiration! Be bold, be joyful, and love your best completely.